Olde Magick
by starsinjars
Summary: Is magic the same as magick? Sam and Dean can't figure out if Merlin, Arthur, and Gwaine would be filed under supernatural.


Title: Olde Magick

Summary: Is magic the same as magick? Sam and Dean can't figure out if Merlin, Arthur, and Gwaine would be filed under supernatural.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"They're doing a summoning ritual."

Dean frowned, just about having enough with these witches. At first they thought they were dealing with an elemental spirit, spirits of nature because all of the spells were in tune with nature and the natural order of things. Weird weather patterns had brought them there, but with a strange lack of death and destruction - even sulfur they checked - had thrown the boys for a loop.

Dean raised his eyebrow. "Summoning what?"

Sam shook his head. "The ink fades, so it doesn't say. But it needs to during the Spring Equinox and while 'the sun sets and the moon is fully risen'."

Dean wanted to groan in frustration. "What does that even mean?"

Sam shrugged. "Hell if I know."

But as it turns out they were just going back to a very ancient magic, called Olde Magick that defies the usual patterns of the witches they were used to.

"So what are we going to do? What can we do at this point? The book doesn't really go into details, or the words have faded. And it's hard enough to - "

Dean slammed his fists down. "God, Sam! Let me think for a moment." He sighed, pushing away the half eaten doughnut since he'd lost his appetite.

Sam sighed with him before moving from the bed to the table sitting next to his irritated brother. "I know, Dean. Well, we know that there are at least twelve of them. A mix of male and female, with more women casting it seems to be. So the leader would have to be - "

"Dia McKale."

They looked to each other in quick understanding before making their way out the door.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Arthur was starting to become concerned. Concerned enough that he was thinking of just walking out of this meeting and sending Merlin to bed to take a well-deserved rest.

All day he'd seen Merlin holding on his head, rubbing his eyes constantly, and Arthur could have sworn that they were glowing behind his eyelids.

He'd asked Merlin about it, but every time he would get the same answer.

"I'm fine, my lord. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

The first time Arthur teased him about staying too long at the tavern, but that had become old and dull by the fourth time or so. He could barely stand, but still Merlin pushed himself to stay by Arthur's side, knowing even without saying so that Arthur appreciated just his presence.

Arthur finished the meeting as quickly as he could, but it wasn't good enough. Merlin, leaning against the wall, was on the floor and panting heavily. His eyes were shut and there was a shimmer of light that Arthur swore was coming from his eyes. Gwaine, who'd noticed Merlin's distress, rushed over to help. Between the two of them they managed to get Merlin to Gaius's room and onto the bed.

"What's wrong with him?" Gwaine demanded. "Have you been running him into the ground again?"

Arthur tossed a blanket over Merlin and avoided Gwaine's eyes. "He said he was fine, and didn't listen when I said he could go."

"Of course he didn't, stupid. He as loyal as a dog. He wouldn't just _go_."

"I _know _that. You're not helping. Either give me a hand, or get out of here."

Gwaine huffed and puffed but ultimately said nothing. He went to look silently at some of Gaius's shelves to see if he recognized any of those herb-thingies.

"Where is Gaius? Why isn't he here?" Arthur griped, running a hand through his hair impatiently. "Gwaine, you spend a lot of time with Merlin, don't you? Have you heard where Gaius usually goes?"

"'Fraid not," Gwaine admitted, swearing a little when he upset a couple jars of he-didn't-want-to-know. "Damn it all, I don't know what to do!"

Before Arthur could respond with an admonition to stay calm, Merlin groaned in pain. He opened his eyes, but instead of the natural blue-green, they were a bright shining gold.

"Merlin?" Arthur could hardly hear his own voice over the blood rushing in his ears as the light became brighter and brighter, blinding him and Gwaine. "Merlin!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Once they were in the car and well on their way to the McKale residence, they knew that they needed a plan.

Sam started it off. "So what's the plan? Should we shoot them or…?"

"What?" Dean looked at him before turning back to the road. "Of course we kill 'em! We have no idea what they're summoning - for all we know they could be summoning a demon."

"But are they really? I mean, think about it, Dean. Really they aren't doing anything wrong, no one's getting hurt. If anything, people are actually being saved - "

"That's just it, Sam. There's never a good side to this. Ever. Something's bound to end in disaster and we may as well prevent it while we're here. It's still supernatural, which means we still need to hunt it." Dean turned and put the car in park. While they're at their destination, they still don't have a plan.

Sam sighed, tired of his brother's stubbornness. "Dean…"

Dean turned to his brother. "Don't 'Dean' me, Sam. That's the rule. Supernatural affecting human life shouldn't be. Back to the main point in hand."

"But - "

Dean took a deep breath before saying, "I think we should just kill them."

Sam grew wide-eyed. "No! No. We're not murderers, Dean. We may kill, but we don't kill people."

"Are they still people, Sam? They're using something that no one's ever seen before."

"I'm not arguing with you, Dean. I say we should just knock the people out and prevent the ritual from taking place. Then they could just deal with the authorities. I'm sure the whole 'occult scene' they'll find would contain loads of evidence against them."

Dean grumbled but got out the door, taking his trusty handheld Glock as well as moving to the trunk to reluctantly take out a wooden bat for him and Sam.

Sam took the weapon, and revealed his own pistol when Dean raised an eyebrow. They nodded to each other before moving to position to prevent this mysterious summoning.

They circled around the house, searching for an entrance not as noticeable as the front door as well as to see what was going on inside.

As soon as the saw the glowing from the windows, they knew that they had precious little time - and no time for subtlety. They jumped in through the window, glass flying and knocking over a few people in the process. They quickly recovered, hurrying to put down the various chanters from finishing what was started. Sam moved to one side, trusting his brother to take the other. He knocked them over one at a time with his bat, stopping briefly to make sure they weren't dead.

Contrary to what he told his brother, Dean took out his gun, aimed, and fired at the most decorated chanter, the one most likely to be Dia underneath the mask. She screamed, but a bright flash of light blinded them all and the scream turned into a laugh before cutting off entirely.

It took them a few moments to get their bearings, but as soon as the light faded, the center of the room was no longer empty.

Within the summoning circle stood two young men, holding a third one up between them.

"Uh, Dean? I don't think they summoned a demon."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Uh, Dean? I don't think they summoned a demon."

"No kidding, Sammy," Dean said, staring at the guys. They were decked out for a Renaissance Faire or something, and the one with black hair looked kind of passed out.

Leaving that one to the care of the scruffy looking guy, the blond bodybuilder took a step towards them and said in a weirdly authoritative voice, "Declare yourself!"

"Um," Sam blinked. "Well. I'm Sam. This is my brother Dean." He made a motion as if to say, 'and you?'

Dean walked over to one of the chanters, kneeling down and grabbing her by the collar.

"Unhand her!" ordered the blond, to which Dean shrugged off.

He looked over back to the circle where the three weirdos were. "Who died and made you king?" he snorted. Ignoring the flabbergasted looks on the pair's faces, he shook her awake. "What were you summoning?" Dean demanded.

"I am Arthur Pendragon, Crown Prince of Camelot. This is Sir Gwaine, one of my knights, and my servant, Merlin. Now release the woman."

"Prince?" Dean nearly dropped the girl. "Are you fucking serious?"

"I think he's serious," Sam said, staring at the determined look in Arthur's eyes.

Dean looked to Arthur, then back to his brother. "Dude, I know the lore but there is no way that they were able to summon King Arthur and his knights. Like what would the purpose be?"

The knight-Gwaine- crossed his arms. "What d'you mean _lore_? And _summoning _us? We were in the physician's room, trying to help our sick friend. What the hell is going on here?"

Dean gently put the girl back on the floor, walking over to the leader he shot to see if she was still alive. Maybe she could give some answers. "Hell if I know. We were here to stop a coven of witches from summoning a demon." He looked over to them and reached down in his pocket for his flask. "So unless you guys are in need of a buttload of holy water, I have no idea what you're doing here."

"Holy water?" Arthur repeated incredulously. "Demons? What is this place? There's no such thing as _demons_. Clearly you are mad!"

"That or they have come into contact with sorcery," Gwaine suggested.

Sam made his way over to Dean, putting his hand on top of his brother's. "Dean, wait. If they were demons, why would they already have meat suits?"

Dean shook his hand away. "I'm not gonna take any chances. For all we know they could have possessed them centuries ago." Dean threw a flask of holy water to them. "Take a drink, all of you, or I'll gank you where you stand."

"I beg your pardon," Arthur was starting to become very offended. "How dare you? First you insult us, then you threaten harm against us? Have you nothing but gall?"

"Yeah, I got a lot of gall," Dean said. "Really big gall. Now drink it. If you're not demons, then it won't hurt you."

"Maybe we'd better," Gwaine mused. "We don't know how to get out of here, and they're not bluffing about killing us."

"And how would _you _know that?"

Gwaine just looked at him, one eyebrow arched. "Arthur, this is _me _you're talking to. I know bluffing when I see it."

"Fine!" Angrily, Arthur ripped the cap off, taking a swig, and frowning at the taste. Gwaine took it from him and knocked some back as well.

"Don't forget about your friend." Dean gestured to the unconscious member of their party.

"We never would." Arthur was glad to be able to take out some of his fury on one of these imbeciles. He held Merlin's head up while Gwaine carefully tipped some water into Merlin's mouth.

The room was in complete silence as there was a lack of hissing. Sam broke the ice as the Winchesters looked at each other, both trying to reassess the situation. "So, I guess they aren't demons," he said.

Dean shrugged, putting his gun away. "It looks like it. But if they aren't demons, what are they?"

"Er… men?" Gwaine suggested, despite how obvious it was.

The Winchesters ignored them. "Did you kill Dia?" Sam asked.

"No," replied Dean, going over to her again. He knelt down, grabbed her by the shoulders, and pulled her up. "Dia. Dia, wake up. What were you doing? What were you trying to summon?"

Dia groaned but didn't regain consciousness. Her head fell back, limp.

"Damn it." Dean put her down again. "Damn it!" What were they going to do now? Dia knocked out, and now these three clowns fresh from Lord of the Rings...

"I guess we gotta take them back to the motel. I'm sure they're harmless. I mean, they don't look armed."

Gwaine laughed outright and drew his sword. "I think not."

"All right, take it easy, Inigo Montoya," Dean said, holding his hands up in a placatory manner. "We're not gonna-kidnap you or whatever. Just come with us, back to the room we rented, and then we can sit down and talk like the civilized guys we are. Cool?"

"Civilized. Civilized? You're joking, right?" Arthur sputtered. "The only people who are less civilized than _you _are common bandits. We didn't choose to come here. I fail to see why you then threaten to abduct and murder us."

Sam shoved Dean. "This is why you ask questions first then attack later."

Dean shoved Sam back. "You know that would have killed us multiple times if we did that."

"And they don't even deny it." Gwaine's voice was almost hushed in disbelief. "Wow. Thought they'd at least give us the run-around or something."

"Yes, they must think lowly of us. No matter. We've got to get back to Camelot, and find Gaius. Merlin can't be made to wait any longer than he already has." He looked back to Dean and Sam. "Well, this has been an interesting conversation, but we really must be going. Farewell." They made their way to the door.

"Yeah, that's nice," Dean said, "but how exactly are you gonna do that? Especially since that leads to the basement?"

Gwaine's shoulders fell a little. "Fine. We'll go to that one, then." He started to haul poor Merlin away, but Arthur didn't move.

"Look," Dean said. "Just come with us. We've got some Advil and maybe we can find an ice pack or something for your friend. Okay? We'll see what we can do for him."

"Do you swear on your honour not to harm him?" His voice was deadly serious, and for the first time Dean actually took him a little seriously.

"We swear. Your boyfriend's gonna be fine."

"_Boyfriend_?"

Sam and Dean shared a look. "Hey, it's fine, we don't judge."

"No we do not," confirmed Sam.

Gwaine howled with laughter when he realized what they were implying.

"They think you're courting Merlin!"

"What?" Color started to rise in Arthur's face. "No! Why would you- _no_! Merlin is my _servant_! I'd never court _him_."

The tone of Arthur's voice cut Gwaine's mirth short. "Oi, what are you trying to say? That Merlin isn't good enough for you?"

"I didn't say that. _You _did."

"But _you _didn't deny it," Gwaine grumbled. "Merlin's too good for the likes of you, anyway."

"My, my, you _are _so touchy. If you're so interested in it, why don't _you _court Merlin?"

"Maybe I will."

"You will _not_! I won't allow it!"

"Boys, boys, please!" Dean waved his hand to get their attention. "Look, whatever you guys wanna do- polyamory or a threesome or whatever you work out- it's fine, okay? There's no need to fight. You can be diplomatic about this. Right now we got bigger fish to fry."

Gwaine puffed out his nose, and Arthur was half-surprised that his breath wasn't fire.

"Right. Well. Even though you're an arse, I said I'd be loyal to you, and I meant it." Gwaine rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Apparently being noble and being annoying aren't mutually exclusive."

"Shut up, Gwaine," Arthur scolded, but he was smiling. "Come on, really now. Merlin's been dragged about all day. We need to get him somewhere to rest. But first," he gestured to the bodies and shards of glass on the floor. "Shouldn't something be done about this?"

Sam and Dean shook their heads and led them outside to the Impala. "It's fine it's fine, let's just get out of here."

"You're criminals, aren't you," Gwaine deadpanned.

Arthur sighed. "Great, now we're associating with criminals."

"Technically, I'm _already _a criminal, so that's nothing new."

Not having time for another argument, Dean insisted, "_No_! Well, not like you think. Just come on! We'll explain later, if we don't get arrested again."

Gwaine looked at Merlin. "You are so lucky you don't have to deal with this right now."

"He'd probably make things worse." Arthur smiled fondly, pulling Merlin entirely into his arms and shuffling them both into the back seat of the car. Gwaine slipped in beside them, looking around curiously at the interior.

In the front, Dean focused his front mirror to look at his passengers in the back. Sam turned to look at him, giving him a roll of eyes. Dean put the car in drive and sped off, making sure to avoid the sirens that were slowly approaching from the other side of the road.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A/N: To continue or not, that is the question.

Thanks for reading!


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